Coast Guard Cmdr. Joshua D. Burch relieved Cmdr. Christopher R. Parrish, Commanding Officer Coast Guard Cutter Dependable on Thursday, in a change of command ceremony held at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.
Burch returns to the Dependable, having previously served two tours as a deck watch officer and operations officer. His other shipboard assignments include commanding officer, Coast Guard Cutter Ocracoke and executive officer, Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous.
Burch’s staff tours include a tour at the Joint Coast Guard Atlantic Area/Coast Guard Fifth District Command Center as a search and rescue controller and in the training operations division at Force Readiness Command.
He is reporting from the Office of Law Enforcement Policy at Coast Guard headquarters.
Burch received his commission in 2002 from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with an undergraduate degree in marine environmental science. He holds a master’s degree in instructional systems from Penn State University.
Parrish is departing after a two-year tour to assume the role of executive assistant to the Pacific Area commander in Alameda, California.